How many rounds till you deem reliable?

This is a discussion on How many rounds till you deem reliable? within the Defensive Carry Guns forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; I'm just curious. How many rounds do you put through a carry gun until you deem it reliable?? Do you have a fixed number or ...

How many rounds till you deem reliable?

I'm just curious. How many rounds do you put through a carry gun until you deem it reliable?? Do you have a fixed number or does your number depend on the make and model? Does your number change depending on whether you've experienced any issues? How much is enough for you?? please explain you're process/ideas.

Ya know, some guns just work from day one---others might require a trip back to the factory or some new parts from the factory (I've had all three)---generally, I find that after 300 or so full-power factory rounds are down range and the sights moved if need be to hit to point of aim, my next move is to run about 100 rds of the ammo I intend to use for defense and call it good! Good luck to you!

Depends on the gun and how it performs during the first 500 rounds, for me. But, normally, I require between 500-1000 rounds of feed reliability, with much of that being my intended defensive ammo. After that, I know. With that, I'm merely guessing and hoping.

I'm of the opinion that there are enough pistols made that don't perform 100% reliably out of the box that it's worth testing. IMO, if you don't test it to prove it, you're relying on others' beliefs that it's very likely to be reliable. For me, that's just not good enough, not on my carry gun.

Depending on how a gun performs over its initial 500 rounds, I believe in a gun's abilities after between 500-1000 rounds of "proof" ammo showing to cycle reliably. That's after the break-in errors and issues have been resolved.

Example: With a CZ P-01, I shot about 1700 rounds before sending it off to a gunsmith for an action and trigger job. That took a gun that had very few errors and turned it into one that was nearly flawless indeed. Over the next several thousand rounds, the gun only had a few jams, most of which were explained by clear ammunition problems. With the P-01, I fed it about 500rds of my chosen carry ammo, and about 750-1000rds of a variety of defensive ammo to see how well it could handle the variety, to see where its limits were. The gun took everything and cycled it well. Based on the early few jams and cycling issues, I hit this one harder than "just" 500 rds before I began to feel comfortable. By roughly 1500 rds, I had put in a recent ~350+ of my intended defensive ammo through it, and it was cycling extremely well with that ammo. After the gunsmithing and a couple hundred rounds, I felt it was perfect.

Example: With a H&K P2000SK, I have shot nearly 600 rds with only two cycling issues, both of which were slight failures to return to battery (FRB), one of which was caused by sub-standard ammo with case problems. The gun is noticeably looser than the CZ P-01 was, seeming to have a bit more noise and "rattling" during normal cycling while firing. But it's dead-nuts reliable. As it its feed path is smoothing up, it is feeling smoother when handling rougher, crankier ammunition. I'm sure it'll just keep getting better and better. Since the initial 500rds was so extremely reliable, with much of that the intended carry ammo, I am fairly comfortable carrying this as a defensive pistol now.

With no other guns have I tested so few rounds before carrying. In the case of these two pistols, the CZ P-01 and the H&K P2000SK, it was justified by the guns' performance overall and performance specifically with my intended carry ammo. No other guns showed such early promise, having a much greater number of cycling issues, a variety of cycling issues, and in some cases requiring trips back to the manufacturer in order to cure it.

Glocks 500 FMJ and a box of Social, Para or Springfield 40/45 1000 rounds of FMJ. All must function with no issues. I also use my own Reloads in these, why use Factory when my reloads work as good. Not bragging, but just the facts folks. Also using Cor-Bon across the board in all for Social Ammo. Switched from Federal Hydro's more than 3 years ago now. I have the ammo to do this so why not use it to insure Reliability. It's my life that I am putting out there on the line with the Commercial Social Ammo which also gets Chamber Checked to insure it will chamber and fire.

The gun on my hip right now, has had zero rounds fired through it. And I'm in the middle of a combat zone. The problem is, with things being as they are I really have no other choice. I suppose it's better than a stick.

The gun on my hip right now, has had zero rounds fired through it. And I'm in the middle of a combat zone. The problem is, with things being as they are I really have no other choice. I suppose it's better than a stick.

I hope.

Brother, if you have to use a pistol where your at, things have gone south real bad like. Make sure ya got your e-tool in your non shootin hand and a pockets full of m67s. Stay safe bro, even though I can't be over there, I think about you guys in the $&@@ every day.

Heck I could put hundreds of rounds through a firearm....deem it "reliable" then when needed it jams.

What keeps my confidence is...every now and then, right when I get home I'll go out back....draw and fire as if in a SD...when it\I performs as expected....my confidence stays. Useing my RIA compact 4inch.

I deemed my G30 as "reliable" right out of the box and after the usually 250-400 round test rhetoric... so one day after work I do my "test" like said above....after the chambered round? I get stove pipe. So whatever on the "deemed reliable" after so many rounds thing.